Search tools allow a user to locate one or more desired items from a larger collection of items. In some instances, the user is able to formulate a search term that quickly pinpoints a desired item. In other instances, however, the user may have more difficulty finding the desired item. For instance, the user may be unsure whether the collection even contains the desired item. In this case, the user's initial search term will obviously fail to retrieve the desired item. Or the item may exist in the collection, but the user may have difficulty in formulating a search term which is successful in finding this item. For instance, the user may wish to locate a movie staring a particular artist, Alyson Jones, by typing in the search term “Allison Jones.” This search terms may fail to locate the desired movie. When confronted with an unsuccessful search, the user may opt to enter another search term, essentially starting over from “scratch.”
In more general terms, known search tools, in some instances, may not effectively steer or guide the user in finding a desired item. This problem may become more pernicious with large data stores, as the user may have more difficulty sifting through a large amount of items to find a desired item.
In other cases, the user may know the precise search term that will locate a desired item, such as the name of the actress “Alyson Jones.” However, as appreciated by the present inventors, a user may find that typing in the full search term “Alyson Jones” is a tedious and error-prone task. This difficulty may be exacerbated in those cases in which the user is entering a search term using a device with a limited input mechanism (such as in the case of a remote controller, mobile telephone, etc.).
For at least the above-stated exemplary reasons, there is a need for more effective techniques for finding items within a larger collection of items.